Executive SummarySolid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology is critical to several national initiatives. Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) addresses the technology needs through its comprehensive programs on SOFC. A reliable and cost-effective seal that works at high temperatures is essential to the long-term performance of the SOFC for 40,000 hours at 800°C. Consequently, seals remain an area of highest priority for the SECA program and its industry teams. An innovative concept based on self-healing glasses was advanced and successfully demonstrated through seal tests for 3000 hours and 300 thermal cycles to minimize internal stresses under both steady state and thermal transients for making reliable seals for the SECA program. The self-healing concept requires glasses with low viscosity at the SOFC operating temperature of 800°C but this requirement may lead to excessive flow of the glass in areas forming the seal. To address this challenge, a modification to glass properties by addition of particulate fillers is pursued in the project. The underlying idea is that a non-reactive ceramic particulate filler is expected to form glass-ceramic composite and increase the seal viscosity thereby increasing the creep resistance of the glass-composite seals under load. The objectives of the program are to select appropriate filler materials for making glass-composite, fabricate glass-composites, measure thermal expansion behaviors, and determine stability of the glass-composites in air and fuel environments of a SOFC. Self-healing glass-YSZ composites are further developed and tested over a longer time periods under conditions typical of the SOFCs to validate the long-term stability up to 2000 hours. The new concepts of glass-composite seals, developed and nurtured in this program, are expected to be cost-effective as these are based on conventional processing approaches and use of the inexpensive materials.
DE-09FE001390 -Innovative Self-Healing Seals for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC)
SinghUniversity of Cincinnati 2
Motivation and ObjectivesSolid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology is critical to National Energy Security and Energy Independence, and at the same time to protect our environment [1, 2]. SECA (Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance) initiatives address these needs through its comprehensive programs [1, 2]. Among the many fuel cell technologies, the SOFC functions at much higher temperatures of 650-900° C and offers unique advantages of utilization of the more abundant fossil-derived fuels (hydrocarbons) as well as hydrogen. Additionally, much higher efficiencies than the low temperature fuel cell are possible for the SOFC when integrated with the combined cycle utilizing the waste heat. Reliable seals are essential to the long-term performance, cost, and reliability of the SOFC because a leaky seal will degrade cell performance and lead to wastage of fuels in an operating fuel cell stack. Consequently, the SECA program has recognized the Seals for SOFC as an important technology area that requires p...